Ailing child sex abuser sent to prison for up to 15 years

Wallace E. Adams, who suffers from diabetes and a heart condition and uses a wheelchair and bottled oxygen, has been sent to prison for up to 15 years for sexual abuse of a child.

Prosecutors recommended Adams be sentenced to 90 days in jail, but 3rd District Judge Tyrone Medley said Adams was a risk to the community."The problem you have is deeply entrenched," Medley told Adams Monday . "I am not willing to trust that you won't be around children again."

Adams, 54, pleaded guilty to two second-degree felony counts of sexual abuse of a child in connection with a 7-year-old female relative. He has confessed to molesting at least 10 other children, but those cases were too old to prosecute.

"I wish this (arrest and conviction) had happened 35 years ago," said Adams, who has lost his left foot, two toes on his right foot and his right heel to diabetes.

He pleaded for house arrest and probation.

Adams said that everyone he knows is now aware of his behavior and would not allow children near him.